Letter: When in a hole, stop digging

Dear Editor:

Pork and more pork.

Well, the extreme liberals in this country have pushed through the most socialistic spending bill ever in the history of this Republic. The economy is just starting to show signs of stabilizing, so the timing could benefit the big spenders.

Even though the Republicans offered a plan that would have spent half as much and created more jobs faster, their plan was not given any consideration. No one who voted for the huge spending bill, including Sens. Baucus and Tester, knew what was in the bill.

At the state level, we have been sort of idling on the budget, waiting for the spending bill to pass as we cannot fund Gov. Schweitzer’s unsustainable growth in state government without backfilling with “free” money from good old Uncle Sam.

Tentative plans are to create a second budget for the federal spending dollars. HB2, the major budget bill, will proceed as normal. Due to the reduction in revenue, HB2 will see reductions in the increases that the governor requested.

The intention, then, will be to backfill some of these reductions with federal dollars. The problem is, the federal dollars are one-time-only dollars and in some cases may go into ongoing programs. This will create problems for the taxpayers in the years to come.

Are we digging a hole for our children and grandchildren?

I believe that when you are in a hole, the first rule is to stop digging.

Stay in touch.

Rep. Dave Kasten, House District 30, Brockway